Spec me a CCTV System

[Bint Box]

There are no ‘better’ NVRs really. They’re all basically the same hardware with slightly different firmware and user interface software.

If you’re otherwise not fundamentally unhappy with your current NVR get a Noctua fan and a biggish SSD or a hybrid drive so it’s quieter.

Doh !, It never dawned on me to use an SSD rather than an HDD in the NVR
I have SSD's in all my PC setups and looks like I had a mental black hole re the NVR and an SSD.

Would anyone know if it is possible to setup a RAID in an NVR with a pair of SSD's? I am clueless about the capabilities of NVR's apart from the real basics.

 

[dlockers]

Any issues with tp link 5 port Poe switches? I went for the 30 quid version with 60w total. 2 cameras and a doorbell.

 

[WJA96]

Doh !, It never dawned on me to use an SSD rather than an HDD in the NVR
I have SSD's in all my PC setups and looks like I had a mental black hole re the NVR and an SSD.

Would anyone know if it is possible to setup a RAID in an NVR with a pair of SSD's? I am clueless about the capabilities of NVR's apart from the real basics.

The NVRs I use (Dahua) would ‘extend’ the drives so you get the effect of raid 0 and most dual drive NVRs will let you do the equivalent of raid 1.

 

[WJA96]

Would you please be able to suggest a few options for one of these?

The most basic unit I would recommend is https://www.securitydynamics.co.uk/...-lite-series/8-channel/nvr4108-8p-4ks2-l.html which should be £120-ish incl. VAT.

if you want something that will handle off-camera image processing then https://www.securitydynamics.co.uk/...ite-series/8-channel/nvr4108hs-8p-4ks2-l.html is about £130-ish.

They‘ll happily handle any ONVIF camera and they’re pretty much bulletproof.

One thing to be aware of, the DMSS app these units use to watch the cameras on mobile devices seems to have an issue with displaying notifications on the Lock Screen of very high-end Samsung phones. This seems to be a Samsung issue rather than an Android issue. It works perfectly on Apple devices. Dahua are aware of it and are supposedly working with Samsung to fix the issue.

 

[Bint Box]

The most basic unit I would recommend is https://www.securitydynamics.co.uk/...-lite-series/8-channel/nvr4108-8p-4ks2-l.html which should be £120-ish incl. VAT.

if you want something that will handle off-camera image processing then https://www.securitydynamics.co.uk/...ite-series/8-channel/nvr4108hs-8p-4ks2-l.html is about £130-ish.

They‘ll happily handle any ONVIF camera and they’re pretty much bulletproof.

One thing to be aware of, the DMSS app these units use to watch the cameras on mobile devices seems to have an issue with displaying notifications on the Lock Screen of very high-end Samsung phones. This seems to be a Samsung issue rather than an Android issue. It works perfectly on Apple devices. Dahua are aware of it and are supposedly working with Samsung to fix the issue.

Many thanks for the links and for your feedback.
Upgrading the NVR seems to be the way to go for me. I will use the QNAP as a storage NAS and forget about a NAS based CCTV setup.

 

[Bint Box]

...if you want something that will handle off-camera image processing then https://www.securitydynamics.co.uk/...ite-series/8-channel/nvr4108hs-8p-4ks2-l.html is about £130-ish.



One thing to be aware of, the DMSS app these units use to watch the cameras on mobile devices seems to have an issue with displaying notifications on the Lock Screen of very high-end Samsung phones. This seems to be a Samsung issue rather than an Android issue. It works perfectly on Apple devices. Dahua are aware of it and are supposedly working with Samsung to fix the issue.

Please forgive my ignorance but what is off-camera image processing?
I am guessing I have never used it as all I do with the existing CCTV system is to take backups to a USB stick of any required footage.

In keeping with my cave man status on CCTV I have never bothered setting up viewing on mobile devices. The DMSS app issue on high end Samsung phones would not seem to impact me currently?
There seems to be an unexplored world of options available once I have ventured from my cave and upgraded the NVR !

Thank you for all your help and patience, most appreciated.

 

[spile]

And would you pay £50 per camera to add more cameras? Given that you can get a really decent 8-channel PoE NVR for £100+hard drives. And do bear in mind these things run 24/7 so would you rather have a 25W NVR that is the PoE power as well or a 35W NAS and a 50W PoE switch?

I do understand people wanting to use Blue Iris etc, and simply put, it’s not a financially or economically viable option.

That’s the point - a two camera system meets my needs and is why QVRPro running on my Qnap NAS (also used for music streaming and file storage) is the ideal solution for me.

 

[WJA96]

That’s the point - a two camera system meets my needs and is why QVRPro running on my Qnap NAS (also used for music streaming and file storage) is the ideal solution for me.

I would agree with that, and if you’ve not seen a modern AI NVR you’ll be very happy with QVR-Pro. The person asking for advice in this case wants 5 cameras I believe so that’s an extra £150 in licences and unless they’ve changed the licensing terms there is an annual fee on the extra licences, which I why I was pointing the user in question towards a decent NVR. Low power, no extra PoE sources necessary and a simple but effective user interface.

 

[Bint Box]

I would agree with that, and if you’ve not seen a modern AI NVR you’ll be very happy with QVR-Pro. The person asking for advice in this case wants 5 cameras I believe so that’s an extra £150 in licences and unless they’ve changed the licensing terms there is an annual fee on the extra licences, which I why I was pointing the user in question towards a decent NVR. Low power, no extra PoE sources necessary and a simple but effective user interface.

Yes, that was probably me.

I will definitely be upgrading to 4 cameras and probably adding a 5th camera at the same time or shortly afterwards
Upgrading to an 8 port NVR is now my planned direction, I have yet to decide on a model but probably one of the Dahua range with capacity to accept 2 HDD's, any recommendations most appreciated.

The cost of the NVR will most likely be paid for in a couple of years from the saving on camera license fees had I gone for the QNAP NAS option.

 

[WJA96]

The NVRs come in a variety of flavours. The fundamental choice used to be do you want to drive a 4K display off the NVR? If you do you need one with 4K in the name. As you are driving a TV I would imagine you will want a 4K one.

The next big choice is do you want to be able play back (not record) multiple cameras once? If not then the decode ratings are irrelevant. If you do then you need to pay very close attention to how many channels and at what resolution the recorder can decode.

If you need multiple hard drives then look at the second number in the name 4108 is a 4-series recorder, one hard drive and 8 channels. The higher the series, the more features. 4208 has 2 hard drive cages etc. 1 is the most basic system, 2 is very usable, 4 and 5 are prosumer grade and 7 is for the security services generally.

Do you need smart functionality? Detecting people or vehicles? Face detection? Face recognition? ANPR?

Are your cameras smart or do you want to do the smart functions on the recorder?

There are so many options it’s really hard to suggest something without knowing what you want to do today (and if you know, in the future).

 

[Bint Box]

The NVRs come in a variety of flavours. The fundamental choice used to be do you want to drive a 4K display off the NVR? If you do you need one with 4K in the name. As you are driving a TV I would imagine you will want a 4K one.

The next big choice is do you want to be able play back (not record) multiple cameras once? If not then the decode ratings are irrelevant. If you do then you need to pay very close attention to how many channels and at what resolution the recorder can decode.

If you need multiple hard drives then look at the second number in the name 4108 is a 4-series recorder, one hard drive and 8 channels. The higher the series, the more features. 4208 has 2 hard drive cages etc. 1 is the most basic system, 2 is very usable, 4 and 5 are prosumer grade and 7 is for the security services generally.

Do you need smart functionality? Detecting people or vehicles? Face detection? Face recognition? ANPR?

Are your cameras smart or do you want to do the smart functions on the recorder?

There are so many options it’s really hard to suggest something without knowing what you want to do today (and if you know, in the future).

Although the TV is 4K we have the current NVR recording at 1080p and let the TV upscale it, seems to work fine so happy to stick with 1080p capability in an NVR
We only play back one camera at a time so multiple camera playback is not required.
Thank you for the explanation of the model numbering and what the digits refer to, very useful to know when looking at the models.
Smart functionality is not required.

I think that summarises the points, it looks like a 4208 model is what might be OK, 4 series, 2 HDD trays and 8 channels?

 

[dlockers]

Has anyone experience with reolink doorbells and homeassistant? Having a few issues getting it setup.

 

[jonneymendoza]

Has anyone experience with reolink doorbells and homeassistant? Having a few issues getting it setup.

I'm struggling getting it to work on my indoor reolink camera....

Can't add it to the home assist using the Reolink integration

 

[dlockers]

I'm struggling getting it to work on my indoor reolink camera....

Can't add it to the home assist using the Reolink integration

Wrong login?

 

[dlockers]

I'm struggling getting it to work on my indoor reolink camera....

Can't add it to the home assist using the Reolink integration

I figured it out -- you need to download the Reolink windows client:

App & Client - Reolink

Reolink App and Client help you to keep an eye on your home and business whenever and wherever you are.

reolink.com

Add your camera using IP address and then click the settings icon NEXT TO THE CAMERA ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE. Not the other identical cog on the right hand side, lol.

You can then go to Settings -> Network -> Advanced -> Server Settings and enable RTSP, ONVIF, etc etc. Just enable them all apart from HTTP TBH.

HA can then add it.

 

[WJA96]

Although the TV is 4K we have the current NVR recording at 1080p and let the TV upscale it, seems to work fine so happy to stick with 1080p capability in an NVR
We only play back one camera at a time so multiple camera playback is not required.
Thank you for the explanation of the model numbering and what the digits refer to, very useful to know when looking at the models.
Smart functionality is not required.

I think that summarises the points, it looks like a 4208 model is what might be OK, 4 series, 2 HDD trays and 8 channels?

Based on what you've said I'd be looking at the NVR2208-8P-I.

 

[Bint Box]

Based on what you've said I'd be looking at the NVR2208-8P-I.

Thank you for your suggestion.
If you dont mind me asking, what are the main differences between the 2000 series and the 4000 series?

 

[WJA96]

The power of the SOC processor so a 4-series might decode video at a higher rate or be a bit snappier if you are processing IVS or facial recognition on multiple channels on the recorder rather than do it on the camera.

With 5 basic cameras I don’t think you would see a great deal of difference and the I series NVRs allow for alerts processed on the cameras to be passed on to the end user on the DMSS app.

 

[JRJ]

Haven't kept up to date in the technology the last 2years but need to add a single camera to cover the front of the house, CAT 6 already run to behind the soffit and back to the server cabinet, would be running off a Synology NAS for the time being, Hikvision colorvu where the "best" when I last looked, have things changed much?

 

[Simon42]

Hikvision colorvu where the "best" when I last looked, have things changed much?

Although ColorVu are popular, they do have disadvantages which is how some of the low light sensitivity is achieved.

They have a wide aperture to allow more light in so close focus is 4.5m to infinity on the 2.8mm lens many people buy. It does look okay a little closer but its noticeably less sharp than non ColorVu models and much more blurry close up. The two Hik ColorVu cameras I tried were set for a very slow shutter speed by default which created too much motion blur and although still not bad when set slightly faster the low light response was impacted.

For a fair test I tried a ColorVu next to the current good quality Hikvision IR cameras in seven locations around my house and only one gave better results for our purposes and only before the street lights turned off at 1am. Even before then there were too many places in dark shadow. On the plus side the ColorVu could show number plates better than IR cameras which need a quite high shutter speed to avoid whiting out the plates at night. I found the built in white lights were too low power and using the existing white lighting around the house wasn't the look I want as I record 24x7 (lights activating on motion also lead to an image adjustment lag).

I did really like a colour view, but for me the cons were far too great even in that one best position, but I appreciate for many people the illuminating light and having adequate ambient light may make ColorVu a great option.